Influencing the Decision℠: Preparing for Your Sales Call

The purpose of sales activity is to influence someone else’s behavior. Because behavior change involves a decision to act, Influencing the Decision℠™ is a sales process designed to follow the natural decision pathway.

Human beings act on their greatest perceived hurt. To fix that hurt, people will make a decision, they will act to “fix” the hurt they are feeling. For example: if your car is showing signs of wearing out, you most likely will not act to replace it until you miss an appointment because it finally will not start, or it breaks down on the way to that important appointment. If it really hurts you to miss that appointment, then you will act…suddenly you will take the steps to replace the car.

When people make a decision, they go through three phases: The Emotional Phase, the Rational Phase, and the Evaluation Phase. If your goal, as a sales professional, is to have any impact on the customer’s decision, some key factors must be considered and addressed as you prepare for your engaging your client.

1. The Emotional Phase
In every decision, emotions are primary. The emotional connection your customer has with their situation comes first and usually, these emotions are based on personal hurts; your customer’s problems, challenges, or deficits. These hurts are expressed as symptoms. When customer’s say, “I need this”, or “I need that”, their expression of need is in response to a deeper root cause (this deeper “root cause” is the Hurt).  For example: In our illustration of the worn-our car, you go to a car dealership and say to a sales person, “I need to buy another car”. The sales person should ask…”why do you need to buy another car?” You’re trying to find out the emotional drivers of why they are shopping.  Your product or service is not under consideration during the emotional phase. Instead, you are being considered as a source of help to solve the hurt. Once the customer believes that you understand them, their situation, and that you can solve their hurt, they begin to trust you and your solution to their hurt, and they make their emotional decision to “buy-in”, and quickly they become rational, and enter the next phase of the decision.

2. The Rational Phase
Influencing the rational component of the decision process involves a discussion of facts, features, benefits, and data. When they are in the rational phase of a decision, customers are able to absorb how your solution will meet their needs. Customers are motivated to consider the details of your solution because in many cases they are preparing a rationale that they will have to deliver to someone else. Therefore, during the rational phase your presentation must be focused on logic and details, so that your customer can justify their decision to accountants, managers and directors. When the case for your solution has been made, and the customer buys-in, ask the customer to repeat the rationale back to you. If they get it right, they are equipped to defend their decision. If they are not strong in their rationalization of their decision, then you need to review the hurts and solutions until they “get it’.

It is often helpful to summarize how your product will fix the hurt. During this summary is often the best time to present your product in comparison to your competitors products. Highlight the areas that your solution is suited to address the hurt. Finally, plan for the end of the presentation, and how you will ask for the sale. You must always be closing, asking for commitments along the way, or you will never get a buying decision. It gives you the opportunity to address any questions or misunderstanding your audience may have. If objections appear, dig into them and tie them back to the original hurt, and have your proof statements and responses ready. Planning is the best way to prepare for and address customer questions. This completes the rational phase, but the decision process continues.

3. The Evaluation Phase 
Once a contract or order has been signed, the sales process continues. The solution still needs to perform and fix the hurt.Remaining involved with the customer as they realize the benefits of your solution as it addresses their hurt grants you the credibility and presence and reinforces the trust you have developed with the customer. Also, remaining engaged in the realization of the solution provides you with the opportunity to address the next new hurts.